Old Violin Still Life by William Michael Harnett Button

The Old Violin (1886) by William Harnett is a vintage Victorian fine art still life realist painting. A musical instrument and sheet music are hanging on a door with iron hardware. The violin is ready for the musician to play a musical song. About the artist: William Michael Harnett (1848-1892) was an Irish-American painter who practiced a trompe l'oeil (literally translated means "fool the eye") style of realistic painting. His realism still lifes of ordinary objects, arranged on a ledge or hanging from a nail, are painted in such a way that the painting can be mistaken for the objects themselves.